NEW: Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran ArtProceedings of the First International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 23rd-24th March, 2017 edited by Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart. iv+166 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white (56 colour plates). 419 2018. ISBN 9781784918552.

Print edition will be available before the end of March. Open Access edition available to download now.

Since the beginning of Gandhāran studies in the nineteenth century, chronology has been one of the most significant challenges to the understanding of Gandhāran art. Many other ancient societies, including those of Greece and Rome, have left a wealth of textual sources which have put their fundamental chronological frameworks beyond doubt. In the absence of such sources on a similar scale, even the historical eras cited on inscribed Gandhāran works of art have been hard to place. Few sculptures have such inscriptions and the majority lack any record of find-spot or even general provenance. Those known to have been found at particular sites were sometimes moved and reused in antiquity. Consequently, the provisional dates assigned to extant Gandhāran sculptures have sometimes differed by centuries, while the narrative of artistic development remains doubtful and inconsistent.

Building upon the most recent, cross-disciplinary research, debate and excavation, this volume reinforces a new consensus about the chronology of Gandhāra, bringing the history of Gandhāran art into sharper focus than ever. By considering this tradition in its wider context, alongside contemporary Indian art and subsequent developments in Central Asia, the authors also open up fresh questions and problems which a new phase of research will need to address.

Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art is the first publication of the Gandhāra Connections project at the University of Oxford’s Classical Art Research Centre, which has been supported by the Bagri Foundation and the Neil Kreitman Foundation. It presents the proceedings of the first of three international workshops on fundamental questions in the study of Gandhāran art, held at Oxford in March 2017.

About the Editors
WANNAPORN RIENJANG is Project Assistant of the Gandhāra Connections Project at the Classical Art Research Centre, Oxford. She completed her doctoral degree in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge on Buddhist relic cult in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Before starting her PhD, she worked as a research assistant for the Masson Project at the Department of Coins and Medals, the British Museum. Her research interests include the art and archaeology of Greater Gandhāra, Buddhist studies, and working technologies of stone containers and beads.

PETER STEWART is Director of the Classical Art Research Centre and Associate Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford. He has worked widely in the field of ancient sculpture. His publications include Statues in Roman Society: Representation and Response (2003) and The Social History of Roman Art (2008). Much of his research concerns the relationship between Gandhāran art and Roman sculpture.

The ancient cathedral of Old Minster and the abbey church of New Minster once stood at the heart of Anglo-Saxon Winchester. Buildings of the first importance, honoured by Anglo-Saxon and Norman kings, these great churches were later demolished and their locations lost. Through an extensive programme of archaeological excavation begun in 1961, and as a result of years of research, the story of these lost minsters can now be revealed. Written by Martin Biddle, Director of the Winchester Excavations Committee and Research Unit, and marvellously illustrated by Simon Hayfield, The Search for Winchester’s Anglo-Saxon Minsters traces the history of these excavations from 1961 to 1970 and shows how they led to the discovery of the Old and New Minsters, bringing back to life the history, archaeology and architecture of Winchester’s greatest Anglo-Saxon buildings.

About the Author
PROFESSOR MARTIN BIDDLE is an Emeritus Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, and Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was the first Lecturer in Medieval Archaeology in England, at the University of Exeter (1963–67) and has held many other distinguished academic positions worldwide. He is the Founder and Director of the Winchester Excavations Committee (1962–present) and the Winchester Research Unit (1968–present). Professor Biddle is also Chairman of the Fabric Advisory Committee (FAC) for Winchester Cathedral, Archaeological Consultant for St Albans Cathedral, and former Archaeological Consultant for Canterbury Cathedral.

SIMON HAYFIELD is an experienced draughtsman who trained as a technical illustrator in the 1970s. He has spent most of his career working as a freelance artist, but has also worked at several top Midland advertising agencies, and lectured part time at the Birmingham College of Art. A love of history led him to archaeological illustration, in which he has worked with a number of senior scholars producing artist’s impressions, finds drawings, elevations and plans for publication. Simon Hayfield began his career in archaeological illustration working with the Winchester Research Unit in 1975 and continues to work with the Unit to this day preparing illustrations for volumes in the series of ‘Winchester Studies’.

Table of Contents
Preface; Introduction; Anglo-Saxon Winchester; Archaeological excavations and finds; Understanding the evidence; Evolution of Old Minster; Destruction of Old Minster; The Royal Quarter; Winchester Studies; Further Reading

FORTHCOMING: Cycladic Archaeology and Research: New Approaches and Discoveries edited by Erica Angliker and John Tully. 298pp; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white. 417 2018. ISBN 9781784918095.

Cycladic Archaeology and Research: New approaches and discoveries reflects the present exciting times in Cycladic archaeology. New excavations are bringing to light sanctuaries unmentioned by literary sources and inscriptions (e.g., Kythnos, Despotiko); new theoretical approaches to insularity and networks are radically changing our views of the Cyclades as geographic and cultural unit(s). Furthermore, the restoration and restudy of older sites (e.g., Delos, Paros, Naxos) are challenging old truths, updating chronologies and contexts throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. This volume is intended to share these recent developments with a broader, international audience. The essays have been carefully selected as representing some of the most important recent work and include significant previously- unpublished material. Individually, they cover archaeological sites and materials from across the Cycladic islands, and illustrate the diversity of the islands’ material culture across the Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Antique periods. Together, they share common themes such as the importance of connectivity, and the role of each island’s individual landscape and its resources in shaping human activity. The work they represent attests the ongoing appeal of the islands and of the islanders in the collective imagination, and demonstrates the scope for still further innovative work in the years ahead.

About the Editors
ERICA ANGLIKER holds a PhD from the University of Zurich (2017), where she wrote her doctoral dissertation on the cults and sanctuaries of the Cycladic islands. She has published on the culture and religion of the Cyclades and is a member of the scientific team at the excavations of the sanctuary of Despotiko, where she has been digging since 2012. She currently holds a position as Research Associate at the School of Advanced Studies (Institute of Classical Studies - University of London). Her research focuses on Greek cults and religions in the public and private sphere, from the Geometric to the Hellenistic era. Her special interests include cults practiced at natural sites or involving natural elements, as well as topics in island studies, such as insularity, socioeconomic networks, and maritime travel logs.

JOHN TULLY read Greats at the University of Oxford before writing his doctoral dissertation on the Hellenistic Cyclades at Harvard and Princeton. He is now a principal at Delivery Associates, where he helps governments improve the lives of citizens.

The architecture of the temple at Baitokaike shares the characteristics that are typical of the Phoenician region especially during the imperial era. Baitokaike corresponds to that Phoenician tradition, but our knowledge about the foundation of these shrines and their development is still limited. This study aims to deepen this topic, while proposing new chronological phases of the site, starting from the time when it was an open cult place, through the architectural analysis of its buildings. In addition, it reexamines the Seleucid and Roman privileges of the sanctuary in order to extend our understanding of the territory of Baitokaike: agriculture, production and trade, the connecting roads and transport to nearby urban centers. Finally, the study of the iconography of the Greco-Latin inscriptions on site reveal the nature of the Zeus cult at Baitokaike as well as the rituals and processions that took place in the sanctuary.

This monograph also contains three appendices. The first is a collection of the Greek-Latin inscriptions found on the site, and includes an unpublished inscription found on an altar in the sanctuary. The second appendix constitutes a numismatic study of 46 coins uncovered during the excavation of 2004. Finally, the last appendix presents a catalogue of selected archaeological finds like pottery sherds, bronze and bones objects.

European adventurers began exploring Palmyra's priceless Roman ruins in the 17th century, but it wasn't until the advent of photography that the public became aware of its scale and majesty. In 1885, the sight of Palmyra astounded members of the Wolfe Expedition as they journeyed home from Mesopotamia. The group's photographer, John Henry Haynes, documented the monumental temples, tombs and colonnades in more than a hundred invaluable images. Since then, Haynes and his work have largely been forgotten, and the forces of the self-styled Islamic State have destroyed the key monuments of this world-renowned site, including the glorious Temple of Bel. Haynes's images of Palmyra - published here for the first time - are all the more poignant. The Syrian city of Palmyra - known as ‘the Pearl of the Desert’ - was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. A key stop on the Silk Road, it was a vital link between the East and the West, and a prize fought over by successive conquering armies.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; The Photographer; The Wolfe Expedition; Palmyra and its Desert Queen; The Topography of Palmyra; Beasts, Men and Stones: Palmyra in Photography and Imagination; The Wolfe Expedition in Palmyra

About the Authors:Benjamin Anderson is assistant professor of the History of Art at Cornell University. He studies the visual and material cultures of the eastern Mediterranean and adjacent landmasses, with a particular focus on late antique and Byzantine art and architecture. His first book, Cosmos and Community in Early Medieval Art (Yale University Press, 2017), is a finalist for the 2018 Charles Rufus Morey Book Award of the College Art Association. The second, The Tragic Image: Fate and Form from Byzantium to the Baroque, will address the "Oracles of Leo the Wise" and related oracular images. He publishes regularly on the history of archaeology and the urban history of Constantinople. Anderson was David E. Finley Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art (2009-12); and has received fellowships from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (Max-Planck-Institut). He currently serves on the Governing Board of the Byzantine Studies Association of North America.

Robert Ousterhout (Ph.D. University of Illinois) has taught in the History of Art Department at the University of Pennsylvania since 2007. Previously he was Professor of Architectural History at the University of Illinois, where he taught for more than twenty years. A recognized specialist in Byzantine architecture, his research focuses on the documentation and interpretation of the vanishing architectural heritage of the eastern Mediterranean. His current fieldwork concentrates on Byzantine architecture, monumental art, and urbanism in Constantinople, Cappadocia, and Jerusalem. Since 2011 he has co-directed the “Cappadocia in Context” graduate seminar, a summer field school for Koç University.

Reviews:
‘…As in the case of Ousterhout’s earlier volume on Haynes, the images are beautifully reproduced on high-quality paper.... In sum, by calling attention to John Henry Haynes’s sojourn at Palmyra in April of 1885, the authors have done a real service to those interested in the past and future of this important site, as well as to students of the history of American archaeology and archaeological photography.’ – Pau Kimball, Bilkent University (Byrn Mawr Classical Review, 2017)

This year, 2017, marks 70 years since the discovery of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls at Khirbet Qumran by the Dead Sea in 1947. The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most well-known archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. This book addresses the proto-history and the roots of the Qumran community and of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the light of contemporary scholarship in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria, as the centre for Hellenistic Jews and the location of the Library of Alexandria, forms a key to understanding the theme of the book. The relationship of this context to the thoughts of the Essenes, the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, the Jewish Therapeutae of Egypt living in the neighbourhood of Alexandria and the Pythagoreans are especially studied in this work. Historical sources (both Jewish and Classical authors) and archaeological evidence are taken into account in the wider Graeco-Roman context. The connection between the Jewish Therapeutae in the Lake Mareotis region and the Palestinian Essenes is explained by the ‘Jewish Pythagoras’ based on the idea that the movements share the same philosophical tradition based on Judaism and Pythagoreanism. The prototypes of the Dead Sea Scrolls are explained in their Egyptian context, in association with the Library of Alexandria, the Egyptian temple manuals, and the formation of libraries in the Hellenistic period including that of Qumran.

About the Author:Dr Kenneth Silver is a historian and professional archaeologist, who has lived and worked for decades in the Near East. He is a specialist in Hellenistic and Roman archaeology, history and numismatics. He has worked with archaeological material in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. He has previously published a number of scientific articles and monographs in this field. His current research interests include the study of early Jewish-Christian relations and the history of early Christianity. Presently he is the director of a survey and mapping project in Northern Mesopotamia studying the border zone between the late Roman/ Byzantine Empire and Persia.

Stones can serve an infinite array of functions both when they are worked and when they are left in a ‘raw’ state. Depending on their function, stones can also be meaningful objects especially when they act as vehicles of ideas or instruments of representation. And it is, therefore, in their functional context, that the meaning of stones can be best grasped.

The stones dealt with in this study are non-figural (or aniconic) or, sometimes, semi-figural. They come from ritual contexts and, as such, act as a material representation of divine presence in their role as betyls. But it is not mainly the representational aspect of these stones that this study seeks to highlight. As material representations of divine presence that are also worshipped, these particular stones form part of a phenomenon that seems to know no geographical or temporal boundaries. They are of a universal character.

It is this universal character of theirs that seems to qualify these stones as elements forming part of the phenomenon of continuity: continuity across different cultures and in different places along several centuries. It is this phenomenon which this study seeks to highlight through a study of these stones. The Maltese islands are presented as a case study to demonstrate the phenomenon of continuity through a study of these stones. Worship of stones in representation of divine presence is found on the Maltese islands since prehistoric times. But the practice survived several centuries under different cultures represented by unknown communities during the islands’ prehistory and the Phoenicians / Carthaginians and the Romans in early historic times.

The secluded sanctuary on the coastal promontory of Ras il-Wardija on the central Mediterranean island of Gozo (near Malta) constitutes another landmark on the religious map of the ancient Mediterranean. Ritual activity at the sanctuary seems to be evidenced from around the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD and, possibly, even as late as the 4th century AD. This ritual activity was focused in a small built temple and in a rock-cut cave that seems to have incorporated a built extension in a later stage. But the practised cult or cults were aniconic and remained so largely throughout. This may explain why the sanctuary’s excavators did not report any findings of statuettes or any figural images. Contemporaneously, figural images were also venerated on other sites showing that, for a long while, iconism and aniconism co-existed on the Maltese islands. There might have been more than one deity venerated in this sanctuary. Dionysos could have been one of them. But whoever they were, they are likely to have been somehow connected with the sea and / or with a maritime community or communities as the sanctuary itself evidently was.

About the AuthorGeorge Azzopardi is a practising archaeologist hailing from the island of Gozo and is quite familiar with the site. His main research interests focus on the Classical period with the phenomenon of continuity as a marked backdrop. In line with this view, he directed his recent research on religious activity in Classical times as being often in continuity from earlier – sometimes, even prehistoric – traditions or inspired from earlier sources. To this effect, human history is seen as a continuum with hardly any identifiable beginnings or intervals.

Greek sanctuaries are among the best known archaeological sites in ancient Greece. However, after over 150 years of excavations and research we know surprisingly little about some of their aspects, such as the rituals enacted in the sanctuary, the nature of original local deities and how aspects of their character were assimilated into those of the Olympians, why sanctuaries were established in certain places, and how to determine who the sanctuary was established for when no epigraphical material is present.

Artemis and Her Cult provides a first attempt to bring together archaeological and literary sources from two main Artemis sanctuaries, hoping to contribute to a clearer picture of her cult. An account of Artemis’ different characters describes her as a mother of gods, a goddess of wilderness, animals and hunt; a goddess of birth, infants and children (and young animals); as well as a goddess of youth and marriage and rites of passage.

These descriptions are followed by an up-to-date account of the archaeological record of the sanctuaries of Artemis Orthia at Sparta and Artemis Ephesia at Ephesus. For the comparison the site of Athena Alea at Tegea is examined. The three accounts offer a full study of the architectural development and the range of artefacts made of different materials. The varied character is Artemis are further analysed by looking at the archaeology relating to the cult and the rites of passage taking place at the sites. The rites of passage are reconstructed by using the literary accounts.

About the author:Ruth Léger's love for ancient culture started with the subjects of Latin and Greek at secondary school. After a BA and MA degrees at the Universiteit Utrecht, she moved to Birmingham to pursue her PhD. This book is the result of her research in the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology under supervision of Dr K.A. Wardle, and is a starting point for mapping out sanctuaries and their history throughout the Greek world.

The Nature and Origin of the Cult of Silvanus in the Roman Provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia deals with the cult of Silvanus and presents the evidence and current state of research of the cult in Dalmatia and Pannonia to the wider scholarly community. New perceptions on the subject are proposed and a fresh standpoint from which certain problems may be (re)addressed is presented.

About the Author:Ljubica Perinić studied Archaeology at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology, where she defended her PhD thesis in 2008. She works at the Division of Archaeology at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. She is particularly interested in Roman religion, Roman army, and epigraphy. She lives and works in Zagreb.

Our understanding of ancient Pre-Columbian civilizations has changed significantly as the result of archaeological research in the last fifty years. Major projects during this period included dealing with cultural change in different contexts (Valley of Mexico, Oaxaca), regional research projects (“Olmec”), as well as attempts to understand more general trends in interpreting Pre-Columbian art and ideology (Codex Cihuacoatl, Templo Mayor). This book presents both the changes that occurred in the last few decades, and the impact that they had on our understanding on ancient Mesoamerican religions and cultures. It also includes references to some lesser-known research traditions (such as Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia), as well as to the work of scholars like Jacques Soustelle or Didier Boremanse. With the insistence on clear methodology, based on field research, this book uses the context of specific archaeological finds in order to put Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures in a historical perspective. In terms of method, the author follows R. E. W. Adams, Jeremy Sabloff, Robert J. Sharer and other archaeologists in emphasizing the “field archaeology school” approach, with its insistence on using the data acquired in context. Archaeological and anthropological research is in itself fascinating enough to not need stolen artefacts, forged vases, fantastic stories and invented mythical genealogies. The main goal of this book is to produce a methodologically sound and ethically valid interdisciplinary introduction into the exciting world of ancient Mesoamerica.

In this volume, a pleiade of Egyptologists, Archaeologists, Archaeoastronomers, Archaeoanthropologists, Historians and other scholars from fifteen countries (Hellas, Egypt, France, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Turkey, Australia) have combined their efforts in order to honour Alicia Maravelia, whose important work in Egyptology and in the foundation of the Hellenic Institute of Egyptology are highly acknowledged.

This book, with foreword by His Eminence the Archbishop of Sinai and Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St Catherine, Mgr Damianos, contains thirty original articles, two abstracts and a plethora of accompanying texts including Dr Maravelia’s list of publications. The book is divided into three parts: 1. Nūt and the Realm of Stars [15 contributions]; 2. Ancient Egyptian Religion and its Celestial Undertones [12 contributions]; and 3. Ancient Egyptian Science, Medicine, Archaeoanthropology, Egyptomania, Egyptophilia, etc. [5 contributions].

The reader will find papers that deal mainly with the goddess Nūt and her mythology and cosmographic notions related to her, the stars and other celestial luminaries, orientations of monuments, ancient Egyptian constellations and decans, the notion of time, calendars, religious and funerary observances related to the sky, ancient Egyptian religion, religious and amuletic artefacts, religious mythology, as well as archaeoanthropological and medicinal studies, papers on ancient Egyptian Mathematics, Egyptophilia, Egyptomania and ancient Egyptian collections.

FORTHCOMING: The Healing Springs of Argyll by Alex Alexander and Allan Stroud. Illustrated throughout in colour and black & white. Published by Potingair Press.ISBN 9780956824042.

Healing springs have played a significant role in the folklore of many cultures in most geographical regions. In Scotland, these natural features are referred to as ‘holy wells’ and some have been venerated since pagan times. In introducing the ‘holy wells’ of Argyll and Bute in western Scotland, this book examines, with the aid of GIS techniques, the archaeological landscape surrounding these ‘monuments’ spanning from the Neolithic to the present day; it also provides information about their geological and hydrological setting. The book sets out to address a single question: what made those ‘holy wells’ holy; although the answer is complex, multi-tiered and often unsatisfactory, it is clear that once a ‘healing’ attribute, whether physical or spiritual, is attached to a particular natural spring, communal will, from the elite to the ordinary people, have been reluctant to remove it.

The second part of the book is in the form of a guidebook. While the first part aims to bring the landscape to the reader, the second part aims to achieve the opposite. Via a number of clearly laid-out itineraries, each with a particular ‘holy well’ as its focus, the book highlights the wells’ positions with respect to known domestic, ritual or burial monuments. The visitor is thereby made aware of the geological, historical and archaeological landscape that surrounds each natural spring. The healing springs of Argyll have been recorded to an archaeological standard, and are presented in an accessible manner.

About the authors:Alex Alexander and Allan Stroud are freelance landscape archaeologists, living and practicing in Scotland, with interests in its prehistoric and early Christian periods, respectively.

In 2011, cavers exploring a little-known cave on Moneen Mountain in County Clare in the west of Ireland discovered part of a human skull, pottery and an antler implement. An archaeological excavation followed, leading to the discovery of large quantities of Bronze Age pottery, butchered animal bones and oyster shells. The material suggests that Moneen Cave was visited intermittently as a sacred place in the Bronze Age landscape. People climbed the mountain, squeezed through the small opening in the cave roof, dropped down into the chamber, and left offerings on a large boulder that dominates the internal space. The excavation also resulted in the recovery of the skeletal remains of an adolescent boy who appears to have died in the cave in the 16th or 17th century. Scientific analyses revealed he had endured periods of malnutrition and ill health, providing insight into the hardships faced by many children in post-medieval Ireland.

About the author:Dr. Marion Dowd is a Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology at the Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland. For two decades her research has focussed on the human use of caves in Ireland, and specifically the role of caves in prehistoric ritual and religion. She has directed numerous archaeological excavations in Irish caves, and has lectured and published widely on the subject. Her first book, The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland (Oxbow Books, 2015), won the Tratman Award 2015 and the Current Archaeology Book of the Year 2016. This current book is the result of excavations she directed in Moneen Cave, with a team composed of both archaeologists and cavers.

This book examines different forms of ritual activities performed in houses of Graeco- Roman Egypt. It draws on the rich archaeological record of rural housing and evidence from literature or papyrological references to both urban and rural housing. The introduction critically considers the literature relevant to the topic in order to identify the research gap. Chapter I attempts to reconstruct the structure of urban and rural houses in Graeco- Roman Egypt in the light of papyri and archaeology. This aims to establish the physical and spatial framework for the rituals considered in the following chapters. In line with this reconstruction of domestic properties is the reconstruction of the architectural layout and use of the domestic pylon in Chapter II. Chapter III deals with two rituals enacted before the front door of the house, namely the sacrifice of fish on the 9th of Thoth and the sacrifice of pigs on the 15th of Pachon. Chapter IV considers the ritual of the illumination of lamps for the goddess Athena-Neith within and around houses on the 13th of Epeiph. Chapter V highlights the use of the house as an arena for social types of rituals associated with dining, birthdays, the mallokouria, the epikrisis, and marriage. Chapter VI explores the religious sphere of houses, which is obvious from domestic shrines, wall paintings with religious themes, and figurines of Egyptian and Graeco-Roman deities uncovered from houses. The last chapter deals with mourning rituals, which the house occupants performed after the demise of their beloved animals, such as dogs, and their family members. In the conclusion, I summarize my work and draw out its implications, suggesting that the house was the locus of social, religious, and funerary rituals in Graeco-Roman Egypt.

The Archaeology and History of the Church of the Redeemer and the Muristan in JerusalemA Collection of Essays from a Workshop on the Church of the Redeemer and its Vicinity held on 8th/9th September 2014 in Jerusalem edited by Dieter Vieweger and Shimon Gibson. 322 pages; illustrated throughout in black & white. 266 2016. Available both in printed and e-versions. Printed ISBN 9781784914196. £45.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784914202. £15.83 (Exc. VAT) Institutional Price £45.00 (Exc. UK VAT)

The Muristan is situated in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem and was a prime property in medieval times with numerous churches, a hospice, and a large hospital complex. This monograph contains fifteen chapters written by leading scholars from around the world dealing with the archaeological and historical aspects of the Muristan from the Iron Age through to Ottoman times. A number of chapters also address its immediate urban surroundings, notably the complex of structures associated with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the north and the Church of St John the Baptist to the south-west. Key chapters in this monograph are dedicated to the history of the Church of the Redeemer and on its underlying archaeological remains. Many of the chapters are based on research that was originally presented at an international workshop held in Jerusalem in 2014.

About the Editors:Dieter Vieweger (born 1958) is the managing Director of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem and Amman (www.deiahl.de), Professor at the Church University of Wuppertal, Director of the Biblical Archaeological Institute at Wuppertal (www.bainst.de), Visiting Professor at the Private University of Witten-Herdecke, and Director of a number of archaeological research projects conducted in Jordan, Israel and Palestine (www.tallziraa.de; www.durch-die-zeiten.info).

Shimon Gibson (born 1958) is a Visiting Professor of Archaeology in the History Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and is the Head of the Archaeology Department in the University of the Holy Land, Jerusalem. His academic interests include the Archaeology of the Holy Land, History of Photography, and Jerusalem. He has many publications to his name, and directs archaeological projects (www.digtmountzion.com).

This study focuses on ceramic finds from the excavations (1996-2006) of the Episcopal Group of Sidi Jdidi, the ancient city of Aradi, in the hinterland of Hammamet in Tunisia, directed by Dr Aïcha Ben Abed-Ben Khader and Prof. Michel Fixot. The aim of these excavations was to understand the processes of the (evolution and) insertion of Christian monuments into the pre-existent town and the distribution of the liturgical and economic functions within various buildings of this ecclesiastic centre. The ceramological study contributed to attaining this aim by suggesting dates for each phase of the construction, occupation and abandonment of the Episcopal group, as well as evidence for the function of each space. Furthermore, this study has documented the (strong) rural and regional characteristics of the ceramic assemblages: these are very different from those of the large-scale excavations at Carthage and indicate a pattern of self-sufficient consumption supplied by purely intra-regional trade. The author is a Research Fellow of The National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan), and Research Associate of the Centre Camille Jullian (Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, MCC, CCJ, F-13000, Aix-en-Provence, France).

Dan Monah (11 February 1943 – 21 September 2013) was a specialist in the Neo-Eneolithic of Romania and, in particular, of the Precucuteni-Cucuteni-Tripolye cultural complex, last affiliated with the Iași Institute of Archaeology of the Romanian Academy. His core body of work, consisting of seven books and more than one hundred articles published, primarily deals with coroplastic analysis as a mean of insight into the religion and art of the Neo-Eneolithic communities. With a unique approach to the study of what he formally named ‘the religious life of Cucuteni-Tripolye communities’, Dan Monah was a staunch critic of the dominant cultural-historic paradigm and its natural interpretative consequences: the supremacy of typological description, the Cartesian ranking of religious systems from simple to complex, and the avoidance of ‘unclassable’ occurrences.

The present volume embodies his vision applied to the analysis of the Cucuteni-Tripolye anthropomorphic representations, resting on two structural pillars: an in-depth knowledge of a large body of history of religion literature, and an almost exhaustive inventory of the Cucuteni- Tripolye anthropomorphic representations, the result of over three decades of personal, patient and meticulous examination of the archaeological data. For those in his wake, Dan Monah’s open and unprejudiced approach to the prehistoric imagery enclosed in this book constitutes a solid cornerstone on which further work can be built. Its pages should be turned, if not on account of the wealth of information inside, but for the author’s pleasant and refreshing style at least.

Set in Stone?War Memorialisation as a Long-Term and Continuing Process in the UK, France and the USA by Emma Login. xii+182 pages; illustrated throughout in black and white. 216 2016. Available both in printed and e-versions. Printed ISBN 9781784912574. £34.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784912581. £15.83 (Exc. VAT) Institutional Price £34.00 (Exc. UK VAT)

This book provides a holistic and longitudinal study of war memorialisation in the UK, France and the USA from 1860 to 2014. Moving beyond the social-political circumstances of a memorial’s construction, this study examines memorialisation as a continuing and transformative process. It explores the many ways in which war memorials are repeatedly appropriated, and re-appropriated, undergoing both physical and symbolic transformations. In order to study this full range of transformations, this book presents a unique analytical model that conceptualises objects of memory within three intersecting timescales: the chronological timescale, the conflict timescale and the object timescale. This new methodology facilitates an innovative, holistic approach of understanding engagement with a monument at any given moment in time, allowing meaningful comparisons to be made across both spatial and cultural boundaries. In doing so, it enables an approach to the cultural heritage conflict that moves beyond the socio-political to conceptualise war memorials within a shared cultural experience.

20% OFF: Giants in the Landscape: Monumentality and Territories in the European NeolithicProceedings of the XVII UISPP World Congress (1–7 September, Burgos, Spain): Volume 3 / Session A25d edited by Vincent Ard and Lucile Pillot. vi+94 pages; illustrated throughout in black and white. 214 2016. Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9781784912857. £20.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784912864.

Spotlight promotion: 20% off select 'death and burial' titles. RRP: £26. Offer Price:
£20. Offer ends 31/03/2018. In many European areas, the Neolithic period corresponds to the development of architectural monumentality which left important marks in the landscape, as well as the land clearing and the cultivation by the first agro-pastoral societies.

This volume presents proceedings from the session ‘Monumentality and territory: relationship between enclosures and necropolis in the European Neolithic’, part of the XVII World UISPP Congress, held in Burgos (Spain), the 4th September 2014. The session considered the various manifestations of the relationship between Neolithic enclosures and tombs in different contexts of Europe, notably through spatial analysis; the concept of landscape appropriation, combining domestic, symbolic, economic or natural spaces; and the patterns of territorial organization, in which enclosures and tombs have a fundamental role in some Neolithic contexts.

The theme of the symposium is the archaeology of earthen architecture in pre- and protohistoric cultures, with an emphasis on constructive techniques and systems, and diachronic changes in those aspects. The main interest is in monumental architecture (not domestic), where it is better possible to appreciate the building strategies that show raw earth to be as noble a material as stone or wood, but with its very own characteristics which required the development of original solutions and construction techniques. The scope on monumental buildings also allows analyzing the political, social and economical factors that made such architecture a recognized expression of societal values and political power.

This volume represents a selection of contributions on Mediterranean themes from a wider international interdisciplinary conference on Magical Texts in Ancient Civilizations, organised by the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations at Jagiellonian University in Kraków in Poland between 27-28 June 2013. The meeting welcomed researchers from Hungary, Italy, Poland and Ukraine, covering various disciplines including comparative civilizations, comparative religions, linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, history and philosophy.

In the past ‘magic’ was often misunderstood as irrational behaviour, in contrast to the tradition of philosophical or rational thought mostly based on Greek models. Evidence collected from ancient high cultures, like that of Pharaonic Egypt, includes massive amounts of documents and treatises of all kinds related to what has been labelled ‘magic’. Today it cannot be written off as merely a primitive or ‘lesser human’ phenomenon: the awareness of magic remains to the present day in many societies, at all social levels, and has not been generally replaced by what might be considered as more advanced thinking. The researches in this volume focus heavily on Egypt (in particular Predynastic, Pharaonic, Hellenistic, Roman and Christian evidence), but Near Eastern material was also presented from Pagan (Ugaritic) and Christian (Syriac) times.

This text develops a new perspective on Late Bronze Age (LBA) Ireland by identifying and analysing patterns of ritual practice in the archaeological record. The bookends of this study are the introduction of the bronze slashing sword to Ireland at around 1200 BC and the introduction and proliferation of iron technology beginning around 600 BC. Therefore, it is societal change related to new technology which defines the period discussed as the Irish Late Bronze Age (LBA) herein. Ritual practices find expression in a range of contexts which can be studied separately. However, they require an overarching, integrated ritual system to contextualise and attempt to understand their broader purpose. Similar rituals were consistently enacted in similar locations across the island of Ireland in the LBA. This indicates shared understanding of the way to enact certain rituals as well as shared understanding of what these practices would achieve.

The aim of this study is to show how the Imperial Cult was introduced and organised in provincial Hispania, and examines the collaboration with the Romanised native elites who came from Lusitania, Baetica and Hispania Citerior. This book draws upon literary, numismatic, archaeological and epigraphic sources. The epigraphy found in Lusitania is especially important because it is the only one of the Hispanic provinces where there is evidence of flamines provinciae officiating before the Flavian period, even as early as under Tiberius.

Literary sources suggest that Mt. Carmel was a sacred site for the pagans, for the veneration and worship of Ba’al, as practiced there since the 9th century BCE through the erection of altars and temples/shrines in his honour. According to Iamblichus, the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, on his way to Egypt, visited the mountain in the second half of the 6th century BCE and sought solitude in a temple, or perhaps in a temenos. In the days of the Achaemenid king of Persia Darius I (521-486 BCE), the mountain seems to have been sacred to Zeus.

Artistic and epigraphic evidence suggest that Elijah’s Cave, on the western slope of Mt. Carmel, had been used as a pagan cultic place, possibly a shrine, devoted to Ba’al Carmel (identified with Zeus/Jupiter) as well as to Pan and Eros as secondary deities. The visual representation of the cult statue (idol) of Ba’al Carmel, a libation vessel (kylix?) and the presumed figure of the priest or, alternatively, the altar within the aedicula, strengthen the assumption that the Cave was used in the Roman period, and perhaps even earlier. In addition, one of the Greek inscriptions, dated to the Roman period, indicates the sacred nature of the Cave and the prohibition of its profanation.

When Elijah’s Cave ceased to be used for pagan worship it continued to be regarded as a holy site and was dedicated to Prophet Elijah, presumably in the Early Byzantine period. Following the tradition linking Elijah (so-called el-Khader) with Mt. Carmel, it became sacred to the Prophet and was used by supplicants (Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze) to Elijah for aid, healing and salvation, a tradition that still persists to this day.

There are no literary or historical sources which are recording the existence of Elijah’s Cave on Mt. Carmel prior to the 12th century. The earliest written testimony is that of the laconic description of the Russian Abbot Daniel, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1106-1107, followed by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the Land of Israel in 1165. Any earlier written material must have been lost over time, since it is unlikely that the Cave and its surroundings were entirely ignored before the 12th century.

This book is the first to be published from a wider research project, still in progress, about the sanctuaries of Poseidon and Athena on the promontory of Sounion (southeast Attica). The aim of this volume is to present, for the first time, a comprehensive examination and interpretation of a wide selection of unpublished small finds. These last, of different categories and materials, were discovered in the bothroi (pitdeposits) and the landfills; they are set into their contexts. The illustrations of the finds are integrated within the relevant text for easier reference and a detailed catalogue complements the discussion. The limited archaeological records concerning the work in the sanctuaries, conducted by Valerios Stais between 1897–1915, and which still remain the only extensive excavations undertaken, are re-evaluated.

The author revisits the two sanctuaries, reviewing the structures within them to cast light on the early phases of their establishment and development, as well as their significance for the socio-economic growth of south east Attica. This is realized by drawing upon the evidence of archaeological data and the ancient literary sources alike. The research thus provides a fresh insight into the early cults, with emphasis on the identity of the deities worshipped at Sounion from the Late Geometric to the dawn of the Classical period.

The Bronze Age of the Maltese archipelago has long been overlooked by archaeologists whose attention has mostly been focused on the Late Neolithic temples. This book attempts to understand the islands’ Bronze Age society in the course of the second millennium BC by exploring the history of Borg in-Nadur in south-east Malta. The site of a megalithic temple and re-used in later periods when a fortified settlement was built on the plateau, Borg in-Nadur was visited by travellers and antiquarians in the course of the Early Modern period, and was investigated by archaeologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This collection of essays discusses the early attempts to understand the site, and presents a comprehensive catalogue of the finds that have never been properly published. It also considers the site in its local landscape setting and in its regional south-central Mediterranean context, and explores issues related to past and present public outreach and site management.

The Circle of GodAn archaeological and historical search for the nature of the sacred: A study of continuity by Brian Hobley. 820 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white. 163 2015. ISBN 9781784911379. £110.00 (No VAT).

Symbolism was endemic in the ancient world as a visual language, with its interpretation one of the most important challenges, especially in the realm of the divine and sacred, to today’s cognitive archaeology and Classical Studies. This study is focussed on circular solar/cosmic symbolism which has endured for seven millennia in the European and Mediterranean worlds. The potency of the solar/cosmic circle should not be understated, as this study will demonstrate, with its worldwide affiliation. For all humankind is aware of the sun’s benefits of light and warmth, and of the seasons which needed in the ancient world to be sustained by heavenly harmony through ritual, sacrifice and worship; hence the introduction of sympatheia, i.e. ‘as above so below’ thus satisfying society’s need for a relationship with the natural world of the universe/sun. To that end, Bronze Age people created circular landscapes such as Stonehenge with circular henges and burial monuments (barrows). In the Classical Greco-Roman world, kingship required emperors to play a cosmocrator role acting as a beneficial solar/cosmic earthly filter for their people. Thus Augustus adopted the primary solar Greek god Apollo as his patron, for he commanded prophecy and divination integral in the ancient world. Divination and fate belonged to the Gods, with ancient astrology not just fortune telling but projecting the divine will and workings of the circular living orderly universe with the Sun the centre of Divine intelligence. The pagan world inter-religious toleration was exchanged for Christian universalist monotheism which needed the solarisation of Christ by early Christian fathers to gain followers and permanent converts. Such was the strength of solar tradition that the Emperor Constantine remained loyal nearly unto death, and up to medieval times Christ in Europe was still known as Sol Resurrectionus.

Aegean Mercenaries in Light of the BibleClash of cultures in the story of David and Goliath by Simona Rodan. iv+112 pages; illustrated throughout in black & white. 148 2015. Available both in printed and e-versions. Printed ISBN 9781784911065. £22.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784911072. £15.58 (Exc. VAT) Institutional Price £22.00 (Exc. UK VAT)

The story of the duel of David and Goliath, the Philistine champion, is narrated in the Bible in several versions. While its symbolic importance in Judaism and later in Christianity gradually came to represent the battle between good and evil, true faith and paganism, attempts were made since ancient times to solve its ambiguities. In modern research, the story arouses many disputes. There is controversy about the degree of realism and fantasy in it and there is also no agreement as to the time it was composed. Some claim that this was close to the time when the event occurred at the beginning of the monarchy period. Others postpone the time of its writing to the end of the Judaean monarchy and even to Second Temple times by pointing out its similarities to Greek literature and the characteristics of Goliath as an Aegean hoplite.

The purpose of the study is not only to shed light on the enigmas about the protagonists and the time of the story, but also to understand why the importance of its message did not lessen and in what circumstances the interest in it was prolonged. The study employs a textual analysis (literary and philological) of the story together with its comparison to Greek, Egyptian and Mesopotamian literary sources, historical analysis, and also a comparative analysis with archaeological findings. It examines sources which until now have not been included in research and suggests a new date, place and motive for the compilation of the duel story.

Reviews:

'This study is a worthy addition to a long line of previous studies suggesting a historical and ideological background of the David and Goliath story, arguing for quite specific context and very specific linguistic understanding of particular words and terms from the biblical narrative.'– Aren M. Maeir, Bar-Ilan University (Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2017)

Ancient Egyptian offering table scenes have been explored from chronological and art historical perspectives over the past century of Egyptological research. This descriptive overview has usually centred on the diachronic evolution of philology and food offerings, focussing less frequently on offering table images as discrete elements of highly codified information. The exploration into offering table imagery presented in this study examines two key elements: gender and the performance of ritual incorporated within scene structure.
Latent and hidden potential of life within the ancient Egyptian tomb was subject to a complex process of metaphysical transformation achieved through external cult and provisioning provided by the family of the deceased, and through internalised cult present in ritually charged texts and imagery. The hypothesis that the offering table depiction functioned as an influential element in this transformational continuum will be explored in this work.

This study investigates gender-based and ritual-dependent afterlife expectations of the deceased over a key phase in Egyptian history from the latter part of the Old Kingdom to the end of the Middle Kingdom Period, c.2686 BC - c.1650 BC. Conclusions indicate that the transformational journey to the afterlife can be understood through a meaningful synthesis of people, produce and ritual embedded within offering table depictions.